President Donald Trump is set to launch a multibillion-dollar strategic critical minerals stockpile to further reduce the United States’s reliance on China for rare earths and other metals crucial to developing artificial intelligence, batteries, jet engines, and smartphones.
The stockpile of minerals, which has been dubbed Project Vault, is expected to cost around $12 billion and use roughly $1.67 billion in private capital as well as a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
The EXIM Bank was expected to vote on Monday to authorize the loan under a 15-year agreement.
A White House official confirmed the news, first reported by Bloomberg, to the Washington Examiner.
The venture is expected to be similar to the U.S.’s existing crude oil stockpile, known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The SPR is considered the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil and has a storage capacity of around 714 million barrels.
This stockpile was last partially depleted under the Biden administration to offset high gas prices and market volatility, brought on by supply disruptions seen following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rather than storing crude, Trump’s new stockpile will store minerals and rare earths, including gallium and cobalt. These reserves will primarily focus on emergency stockpiles of critical minerals and rare earths for civilian use.
More than a dozen major tech and manufacturing firms are expected to sign on to purchase rare earths and minerals to fill the reserve, including General Motors, Stellantis, Boeing, GE Vernova, and Google.
By participating in the project, these companies will be able to insulate their operations from volatile market prices without having to maintain their own mineral supplies, senior administration officials told Bloomberg.
To participate, the manufacturing and tech firms must agree to purchase relevant materials from the reserve at a specific inventory price. They can then present the government with a list of the exact minerals and rare earths they need for their operations.
As the stockpile fills, the companies will be charged carrying costs for expenses related to the EXIM Bank loan and for physically storing the materials.
The companies will then be able to use some of their stored materials, as long as they replenish the reserves. If there is a major supply disruption, then the firms will be able to access the entire stockpile.
Over the last year, the Trump administration has raced to expand the country’s supply chain to reduce reliance on China, which controls about 90% of the global supply chain.
Administration officials have insisted that shoring up the U.S. critical mineral supply chain is not only crucial for developing tech-related manufacturing but also for national security, as these rare earths and minerals are used in a wide range of defense applications, such as fighter jets, missiles, and night vision.
Trump has sought to take a whole-of-government approach to building out the U.S. supply of critical minerals, including by taking equity stakes in numerous companies, such as USA Rare Earth, Lithium Americas, and MP Materials.
In January, Trump also signed an executive order launching a new process to secure critical mineral imports, as the administration found that the U.S. was 100% reliant on imports for 12 critical minerals and about 50% reliant on another 29 critical minerals.
The effort to establish a reserve of critical minerals comes just weeks after a group of bipartisan lawmakers put forth a bill suggesting just that.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Todd Young (R-IN), along with Reps. John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Rob Wittman (R-VA) announced the Securing Essential and Critical U.S. Resources and Elements Minerals Act in January, calling for the creation of a $2.5 billion mineral stockpile.
HOW THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SOUGHT TO REBUILD THE CRITICAL MINERAL SUPPLY CHAIN
The bill called for the reserve to be managed by a seven-member board, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
It remains unclear who the White House will pick to oversee the stockpile, though it is very likely that management will fall under the Department of Energy, which currently oversees the SPR.
